Practice Makes Failure Less Frequent

I sat down at the piano, wondering if I should be here. But then, I remembered. With a smile, I knew that this was the place to be. The place where I have fought many battles with my pride, reminding myself that I am here to glorify God, not myself, through this otherworldly gift of music that He has bestowed on the earth. This is the place my fingers have learned, my soul has learned, to keep fighting for the right notes when hands and hearts are stubborn and learn slowly.

I ran my fingers over the keys for the first time in weeks, only the 4th or 5th time this year, stumbling over the same parts of the song I always do (which is pretty much the whole thing), yet surprised in parts to find that my fingers not only remembered the notes but were capable of playing them more fluidly than ever before. And as I played, I understood.

I understood that this word, failure, that had been dogging me for the past month, can only be conquered by practice. Fail, fail, fail, stumble, stumble, toddle, toddle, gasp-I didn’t miss that note this time. Again, play the notes, stumble, fail, but there, it’s getting better – more smooth now – that’s it! The sweet notes of victory. The success rate improves, and given enough time, the muscles in my hands will recall the notes without effort. Oh, they’ll slip, but the more I practice the less that will happen.

And, as you may have guessed, this is also true in our walk with God- and any area of life in which we’d like to do better. The more we practice being like Christ, or getting up early, or eating healthier, the closer we will come to getting it right. Victory only comes when we push through repeated failure. {tweet that} If you’ve been struggling to succeed in any area, don’t give up! Keep praying and keep practicing. You won’t get the grace to succeed if you stop trying.